Foul-smelling sewage water, overflowing from a blocked drain, has been flowing through the streets of Lavender Hill for months, and residents feel their pleas for help have fallen on deaf ears.
Ingrid and her daughter April Daniels of St Ruth Street, Rondevlei, in Lavender Hill, said a constant overflow of sewage and dirt in the road and on the pavement in front of their house has created a health risk.
“I was walking from my area to the other side of the road and there is dirt strewn in stagnant drain water,” said Ingrid Daniels.
She said they had called officials from the City of Cape Town on a number of occasions to clean up the dirt and fix the drain but to no avail.
She added that the unhygienic conditions affected their family’s health. “I am a chronic patient and get sick of the smell. My children also get sick often.”
Her daughter April said the water in the road had been turning green and “our road is looking like a canal”.
“The smell is bad, bad, bad as it’s faeces water with pieces of toilet paper all over,” she said.
“We live on the corner. The dirty water flows basically right around and we can’t open our windows as soon as we open the door the smell comes in. It’s horrible.”
She added that she had logged several complaints with the City, the most recent one on Easter Monday, April 5.
When Southern Mail called ward councillor Shanen Rossouw, she said the problem had been attended to and that there were officials at the location to see to the drain.
Ms Rossouw said another resident had called her and on Wednesday April 7. “The officials went to the main drain in the next road, to attend St Ruth’s blocked drain,” she told Southern Mail.
Ms Rossouw also sent Southern Mail a voice message from a resident who had told her that she had been informed by a City official that the problem lay at a nearby pump station.
The Southern Mail queried this with the City, but they were unable to respond in time for our deadline.
